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Museums
Museum Africa
Museum Africa captures the bitter experience of the Rivonia Treason Trial, and the social effects of the migrant labour system on the gold mines. You can walk into a shebeen or hostel room of concrete bunks and discover many fascinting aspects of South Africa's history for yourself.
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Huguenot Memorial Museum, Franschhoek
Among the earliest white settlers in the Cape’s colonial history, were French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Their arrival added yet another thread to the South African cultural tapestry. Their contribution is celebrated at the Huguenot Memorial Museum in Franschhoek, South Africa’s ‘French corner’.
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The Bo-Kaap Museum
Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap Museum, set in the colourful neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap just outside the city centre, is the place to find out about the resident Islamic community, its history and culture. After your visit, take a walk along the cobbled streets and discover more.
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Windpump Museum, Loeriesfontein
The windpump, water workhorse of South Africa’s arid regions, is celebrated in the Namaqualand village of Loeriesfontein. The collection of more than 2 dozen windpumps at the local Fred Turner Museum makes Loeriesfontein a worthwhile stop-over on your drive northwards to see the annual spring flower displays.
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Kimberley Africana Library
The Kimberley Africana Library houses one of the finest collections of Africana in South Africa. It specialises in the history of the diamond fields from the early 1870s, the history of Kimberley and the Northern Cape and the South African War, also known as the Anglo-Boer War.
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KwaZulu-Natal's cultural museums
More than a dozen cultural museums scattered throughout KwaZulu-Natal chronicle the cultural history of the province. Artefacts of the Stone Age, San paintings and relics of the Great Trek are explored alongside the already well-documented and exhibited ancestry of the Zulus, Griquas and other ethnic groups.
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Newtown Cultural Precinct, Johannesburg
The Newtown Cultural Precinct, in downtown Johannesburg, has a distinctly cosmopolitan vibe; and underlying its trendy coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and clubs is the same avant-garde attitude that made it a hot-bed of protest theatre, music and poetry during the apartheid-era.
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East London Museum
As you move from display room to display room, you'll find things about the Eastern Cape you never knew: discoveries of the prehistoric coelacanth fish, collections of Xhosa cultural artifacts, stone bones from the ancient Karoo and a living beehive that has been in the East London Museum since 1959.
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South African Art Museums
Art museums in South Africa preserve and share the country’s rich social and cultural history, as documented through its art. They are home to collections of work that range from San rock art, to early colonial art, struggle art and contemporary art from around the country.
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Gold of Africa Museum
The Gold of Africa Museum's primary role is to preserve the art of African wrought gold, and the goldsmithing workshop not only uses traditional designs, but encourages modern design inspired by the bold forms of yesteryear. A boutique shop sells 18- and 22 carat gold jewellery.
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Freedom Park
Freedom Park is a memorial and sanctuary conceptualised by former president Thabo Mbeki, to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for human rights and their country during South Africa's turbulent history. The shrine to freedom sits on a 52-ha site atop Salvokop Hill and offers 360° views of Pretoria.
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Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum
The Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum in Somerset West, approx 40 km from Cape Town, is a stark reminder of the appalling conditions faced by migrant labourers in apartheid-era South Africa. The dynamic exhibitions, events and installations recall this dark South African past, but also shed light on a brighter future.
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South African Cultural Museums
South African cultural museums celebrate that diversity makes for richly-textured culture, and there’s no short supply of diversity in South Africa. As a country still in the grips of urbanisation, these cultures are undergoing change at a steady pace. It’s a fascinating process to observe.
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MuseumAfricA
MuseumAfricA reminds us of humble beginnings of Johannesburg, the economic heart of the country that was never planned. It sprang up overnight in reaction to the discovery of gold. Its sophistication today belies its rough-and-tumble beginnings. The museum records the politics and people who shaped it.
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Afrikaans Language Museum
Some Afrikaans expressions don’t bear translation - no other language quite captures their exact meaning. Like bakgat, which translates to ‘cool’, although ‘cool’ doesn’t really get that element of grudging admiration. Or gatvol, which means ‘fed-up’, but with far less civility. The Afrikaans Language Monument traces the growth of Afrikaans.
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